New hospital offerings in the field of hotel service. Hospitality in the hotel industry when accommodating patients. How recovery in a hotel room is becoming a common practice.
The tourist orientation towards medical services is considered a fashionable trend today. See for yourself, many Swiss hotels today meet the highest medical standards. In addition, some hospitals are acquiring their own hotels.
Davide Scruzzi: “The tourist industry in Swiss healthcare is not something new. There are many years of tradition built up with treatment at thermal springs. Currently, this area is receiving a new boost in development. A fresh example is the adaptation of the hotel classification of the Swiss hotel industry association. It should provide wider access to services from private and cantonal hospitals.”
Previously, the concept of a “Wellness” hotel was defined directly by the combination of the availability of a swimming pool and various specialized services in the “Wellness” category. Today, a new terminology has emerged: “Medical Wellness”. While simple Wellness hotels are focused on a more general level of health of guests and the provision of medical services.
A striking example is the «Grand Resort Bad Ragaz», which offers the services of 70 doctors. They range from plastic surgery to orthopedics, helping children and those who want to optimize their diet and mental health.
Thomas Allemann says that there is potential for the development of the Swiss hotel industry for about 150 establishments that can position themselves as medical wellness hotels. This is also important for the network of clinics. Hotels can specialize in those who undergo outpatient or inpatient treatment in hospitals, to provide more support, as well as for the accommodation of their relatives. For this, unique combinations of a hotel and a clinic are being developed.
Currently, Allemann is meeting with representatives of the Swiss health platform, which was founded in 2010, to get help in the cooperation of clinics at the international level.
There are also regional initiatives. The Lucerne Canton Clinic, the Hirslanden Clinic and Cereneo are being advertised. Four healthcare workers in Lucerne take care of the clinic's guests staying at the hotel. Translation services are also included. Initially, the initiative was met with resistance, as concerns were expressed about ignoring the needs of local residents for accommodation. Today, clinics' hotels accept up to 100 patients annually.
This may seem like a small number, but it provides great value during the course of treatment for the patient himself, although the cost of treatment and accommodation often amounts to several hundred thousand francs per person. The previous goal was to reach about 300 patients per year, but this proved to be an extremely difficult goal to achieve.
Patients from all over the world come to clinics with hotels. A large number of Russians. In addition, there are also people from the Middle East, Germany, and China. In 16 hospitals of the Hirslanden group, about 4,000 “international patients” can undergo treatment per year.
The most in-demand treatment is in the fields of oncology, orthopedics, cardiology, and urology. Patients come because of the advertising of Swiss healthcare, and they are also sent by foreign agencies.
According to Konrad Engler from the Spitalverband H+ hospital, foreigners do not come only for quality treatment: “An important factor is also comfortable accommodation away from home, which reduces the emotional stress associated with moving and treatment.”
To improve the attitude towards foreign patients, new concepts of hotels for patients are emerging in Basel and Geneva. The University Hospital Basel has studied the benefits of implementing patient and hotel cooperation. Suppose that for some of them, treatment in a hospital and accommodation in a hotel is a more convenient, as well as a cheaper alternative to inpatient treatment. But foreign patients are not the main target of hoteliers, as not all of them will stay in low-class hotels. If about 50 foreign patients arrive per year, then they often undergo only a few procedures and leave. Also, some very wealthy patients who prefer to recover in a hotel room stay with their families in more expensive and presentable hotels.
The hospital at the University of Lausanne has 115 rooms in a three-star hotel ready to accommodate patients with low care needs, including their family members, next year. It is a project of a private partner that maintains a relationship with the hospital, but still not exclusively focused on patients from abroad, emphasizes hospital spokesperson Darcy Okrestite.